August 19, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Francis De Luca (919) 834-2099 francis.deluca@nccivitas.org
Civitas Poll Shows Unaffiliated NC Voters Strongly Support Education Savings Accounts
RALEIGH – A new Civitas Poll of registered, unaffiliated North Carolina voters shows across-the-board strong support for Education Savings Accounts in our state.
When asked whether they generally favor or oppose the idea of Education Savings Accounts, 71 percent of those voters said they favor them. (The same question was asked in the June Civitas Poll of all registered voters. Fifty-seven percent of those respondents were supportive of the idea of Education Savings Accounts.)
“These numbers in such a crucial voting bloc suggest the broad appeal of ESAs and that this support defies political or ideological labeling,” said Bob Leubke, Senior Policy Analyst for the Civitas Institute. “The poll indicates a strong level of support statewide for the concept of an ESA, especially when all children would be able to use the program.”
The poll surveyed 400 registered North Carolina unaffiliated voters, 30 percent of whom were reached on cell phones. The survey was taken August 10-11 and had a margin of error of plus/minus 4 percent.
Results from this poll will be discussed at a Civitas Poll Lunch Thursday, Aug. 20, from 11 45 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley.
Following is the exact wording of the relevant questions:
Recently, Nevada became the fifth state to approve Education Savings Accounts for students, commonly called ESAs. ESAs are government authorized savings accounts that place government funds in an account for families and allow parents to use the funds for approved expenses such as tuition, books, and tutoring. In general, do you favor or oppose the idea of “Education Savings Accounts?”
71% Total Favor
17% Total Oppose
39% Strongly Favor
32% Somewhat Favor
5% Somewhat Oppose
12% Strongly Oppose
11% Undecided/Don’t Know/Need More Information
— Refused
Five states have approved ESA legislation. These states vary in who is eligible for the ESA, ranging from special needs or other specific populations, to all students. If approved by the North Carolina State legislature, in your opinion, who should be eligible to receive an education savings account?
64% All students
9% Students below the poverty level
13% Students in high need populations such as special needs or at risk students
3% Students attending failing schools
11% Don’t Know/ None of the Above/ Other
— Refused
North Carolina has passed legislation authorizing tuition vouchers, known as opportunity scholarships, to lower income families which allows children to attend any school that their families choose. With that in mind, which of the following statements comes closer to your opinion on the issue of school choice and public schools? (ROTATE)*
60% Giving parents more choice in K-12 education will improve education for students. North Carolina should move towards allowing more choice in K-12 education for parents and children.
31% The state should be the primary educator of all K-12 children. Any legislation that allows parents the ability to move children out of the traditional K-12 public school system will weaken public education.
7% Don’t Know
1% Refused
* Worded slightly different in previous polls
Crosstabs for poll here.
About the poll: This poll of 400 registered unaffiliated voters in North Carolina was conducted August 10-11, 2015 by National Research, Inc., of Holmdel, NJ. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered, unaffiliated general election voters in North Carolina. Thirty percent of the respondents were cell phone-only users. For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in at least one of the past two general elections (2012, 2014) or be newly registered to vote since November 1, 2014. The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 400 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.”
For more information on Civitas polling, see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/.
For more information, contact Jim Tynen or Demi Dowdy at 919.834.2099. Email: jim.tynen@nccivitas.org, or demi.dowdy@nccivitas.org.
Founded in 2005, the Civitas Institute is a Raleigh, NC-based policy organization committed to creating a North Carolina whose citizens enjoy liberty and prosperity derived from limited government, personal responsibility and civic engagement. To that end, Civitas develops and advocates for conservative policy solutions to improve the lives of all North Carolinians. Towards that end, Civitas provides research, information and training to:
- empower citizens to become better civic leaders and more informed voters;
- educate emerging public leaders, enabling them to be more effective in the democratic process; and
- inform elected officials about citizen-based, free-market solutions to problems facing North Carolinians.
Permission to reproduce this article is given if it is used in its entirety and credit is given to the Civitas Institute of North Carolina.
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